CyColor

How can food waste be used to dye and print textiles sustainably, and how can this create an emotional connection to the product?

The textile industry is the sector with the second worst environmental performance. When it comes to environmental impact, we often overlook the process of dyeing. Our desire for color is literally toxic and plays a key role in the drive for more sustainable processes. In addition, it is now common practice to consume fast fashion. Consumers are spending more than ever on clothing. At the same time, prices for clothing have been falling steadily for years. The resulting symptom: masses of textile waste, because fashion dyes always mean a short life cycle of textiles.

CyColor wants to counteract the short lifespan of textiles and clothing and also rethink the process of dyeing. The project therefore uses waste materials from the food industry to dye and print textiles in order to recycle existing resources. The dyes are obtained from the pomace of the black carrot and from yellow and red onion skins. The traditional craft of natural dyeing is revived and further developed with new design approaches. Part of the further development is the design concept of over-dyeing and over-printing. Because whenever we talk about color and pattern, they are seen as static and fixed, but like nature itself, they can be vibrant and shifting. We assume that textiles should change with you, so we offer the opportunity to be involved in the process where textiles are re-dyed or re-printed over time. The concept aims not only to extend the life cycle of textiles, but also to create a more emotional connection to the textile.

CyColor is a counter-design to serial mass production and shows a responsible use of resources.